Preparing Your Kids for the Real World (Part 08) - Spiritual Development (Part D)

Watch the video of this sermon on YouTube: Preparing Your Kids for the Real World (Part 08) - Spiritual Development (Part D) For the outline and the rest of the sermons in this series, click here: Preparing Your Kids For The Real World To listen to or watch the previous sermon in the series, click here: (Part 7) To listen to or watch the next sermon in the series, click here: (Part 9) 11. Teach them the importance of giving a portion of their income back to God. A. Teach them that God expects them to give to Him the firstfruits of all their increase (Pro 3:9-10). i. Giving God the firstfruits means giving him a percentage of your income first, before spending any of it. ii. Giving God what you have left after you have covered all of your expenses is giving God the leftovers, not the firstfruits. iii. Giving God the firstfruits of all thine increase means giving God a percentage of any and all money you receive. iv. Start by teaching your children to give to God a set percentage of any money they get for birthdays, graduation, etc. v. When they earn money by doing jobs around the house (more on this later), or when they start a kid-business (more on this later), or when they get their first job, sit them down and teach them to give God a set percentage of it before they spend or save any of it. B. Teach them that there was a pattern of giving 10% in the Old Testament, both prior to and while the law of Moses was in effect. i. Before the law of Moses, Abraham gave a tenth to Melchizedek (Heb 7:1-2,4) who was a type of Jesus Christ, and whose priesthood was conferred on Him (Heb 6:20). ii. Before the law of Moses, Jacob promised to give God a tithe of everything that God would give him (Gen 28:22). iii. After the law of Moses was instituted, the nation of Israel gave 2 1/3 tithes per year (Num 18:21; Deu 14:22-27; Deu 14:28-29). iv. Unless you can make a Biblical case (and not just an arbitrary one) for giving less than 10% to God, then teach your children to follow every known example in the Bible and give at least 10% of their income to God. v. My dad taught me to give 10% of my gross income to God by his example, and I am thankful that he did. C. Teach them that God will bless them if they give unto Him willingly and bountifully. i. If we give the firstfruits, God will fill our barns with plenty (Pro 3:9-10). ii. If we sow bountifully, we will reap bountifully (2Co 9:6). iii. If we give to God, He will make sure that it comes back to us in spades (Luk 6:38). D. Teach them that it's a blessing to give (Act 20:35). E. Teach them to purpose in their hearts what they will give to God and to stick to it (2Co 9:7). F. Teach them to lay up money in store for God and His purposes so that they have money to give when a need arises (1Co 16:1-2). G. Teach them to give as God has prospered them (1Co 16:2). i. When we get a raise, we should give proportionally more to God. ii. When we get a demotion or laid off, we should give proportionally less to God. H. Teach them to give willingly and cheerfully (2Co 9:7; 2Co 8:1-5; Deu 15:7-11; 1Ch 29:6,9,14,17). I. Teach them that God will punish them if they don't give Him what they should (Hag 1:3-11; Mal 3:8-10; 2Co 9:6). J. The most effective way to teach your children to give their firstfruits to God is to show them by your example. K. This will prepare them for the real world because they will experience the blessing of God in their lives for giving to Him, and they will not have to eek their way through life like so many of their peers.